More Than You Know
by Elma MacBetsy
Summary: Over the course of a conversation, two people learn just how much one man cares about them. I suppose very, very slight Phoenix/Maya.
1. Edgeworth

PWFF

**More Than You Know**

**This was written when I was halfway through playing case 4 of **_**Justice for All**_** for the second time, so I couldn't really remember the details of how things worked out among all the characters. As such, it doesn't really follow on very well from the end of the game, though I've done my best.**

I'd tried to join in socialising with the others, I really had, but it still didn't come easily to me, especially right now. Despite my earlier conversation with Wright, there was still…something between us. Something awkward. I just couldn't figure out what exactly it was. I glanced over my shoulder and was almost surprised to see a drink there. I didn't think I'd bought a drink… Then I remembered that Gumshoe had insisted on buying me one. Though considering that everyone seemed to have decided that Wright was footing the bill (I really felt sorry for the man) I supposed that in actuality the drink was from him. A sudden voice from beside me cut through my contemplations.

"Have you even spoken to him yet?" I tore my gaze from the rest of the group to find the source of the interruption. Leaning against the bar next to me with what looked like a leg of chicken in hand was Maya, glaring at me in a determined way. "Well? Have you?" I glanced back at the others, one spiky head standing out from the rest.

"I assume that by 'him', you in fact mean Wright?" She gave me a look which clearly said 'duh!'. "I thought so. Of course I've spoken to him. How could I not have? After all, we've just spent the last few days in court." I knew that wasn't what she meant, and although I _had_ already spoken to Wright about the issue, I was curious about what she wanted to say. She frowned.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" She responded sharply, and then in a slightly softer voice: "Have you apologised to him yet?" I frowned. Spoken to, yes. But apologised to?

"Apologise? Why on Earth would I need to apologise to Wright? I've explained everything to him; surely that will suffice". I saw her fists clench at her sides.

"You hurt him! When you left… You hurt him."

"So did you." I replied in not much more than a whisper, the slight slump of her shoulders the only sign that she'd heard. "Anyway, I presume that by 'hurt', you are referring to this foolish idea he had that my… departure was due to the loss of my perfect win record. I have already tried to clear the matter up with him on many occasions, but he was to begin with he was too pig-headed to accept what I told him. Fortunately he's listened to me now." Maya slowly shook her head.

"That's not what I meant. I don't think you understand the effects your actions had." I frowned again.

"What on Earth are you talk-"

"You were dead!" She burst out. "I… He… That note you left. Did it occur to you that it could easily be interpreted to mean…_that_?" I looked away. I couldn't lie, I'd known exactly what Wright would think when he saw that note. Perhaps if he'd thought about it more logically then he might have reached the truth, but if he didn't… Well, it was just one more excuse to prolong my stay in Europe. I hadn't thought he would be too concerned about my disappearance. Confused perhaps, and maybe irritated. At most disappointed. I had only realised how betrayed he felt once I'd arrived back. Maya started talking again. "I only found out about your 'death' very recently. When I saw Nick again, he refused to tell me what had happened to you. He made me promise to never bring you up again. Mr. Edgeworth, he couldn't even bear to hear your name!"

"I…" I stopped. I didn't have anything to say to that. Maybe… Maybe I'd been wrong to assume that the man would have cared so little. But then again, maybe I hadn't. "That could just be due to his complete and utter hatred of me." I argued. I allowed myself to glance back up at Maya. From the expression on her face, I knew she didn't believe that.

"You didn't see him, Edgeworth. You just…" She paused and sighed deeply. "You didn't see him."

"Neither did you." I countered. She looked at me in confusion. "When you left. As I said before, you hurt him too. Of course, he never mentioned anything to me, but I could tell." Maya paused, a slightly hurt look on her face, but it was soon gone and she was shaking her head.

"No. Nick knows why I left. H-He understands. I know he does. But it was different when you left" She paused again, seemingly to come up with a better way of explaining the situation while I'd been away. "He wasn't suffering in silence. If I mentioned you, he'd shout at me. Mr. Edgeworth, Nick never shouts at me. Then he'd apologise and go really quiet for ages. But he'd have this look in his eyes… He looked so sad… yet so _angry_ at the same time." She wasn't looking at me, apparently caught in some memory. She shook her head. "So yes, maybe he did hate you. But that wasn't why he couldn't stand to talk about you. Trust me."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"He cares about you, more than you know", we both said at the same time, her as an end to her speech, me as a beginning. Maya smiled faintly at it. I decided to carry on.

"When you were with de Killer… You should have seen him. He was at the end of his tether. I've never seen him so desperate, practically begging the judge to continue the trial on the first day. It was quite pitiful really." I looked away, a small smile gracing my lips as I remembered his then inexplicable behaviour in court that day. I looked up at her, a frown back in place. "He would have got that man acquitted for you, I'm sure of it. Even if it meant the guilty went free, and even if it meant you never forgave him, he would have done it to keep you safe if there wasn't any other way. That goes against everything that he believes in and stands for, both personally and professionally. In my eyes, that means a lot. You should keep it in mind." Maya looked away, a faint smile and a faint blush touching her face.

We lapsed back into silence, my thoughts still on what Maya had told me. The longer I knew him, the more I had to admit that I trusted and respected Wright more than anyone else I knew, and I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps part of my animosity towards him had been that he'd become the man that I'd always wanted to be when I was a child. I'd been amazed by the lengths he was willing to go both for myself that time last year, and for Maya, if an alternative solution hadn't presented itself. I could see the turmoil in him, even from my position across the courtroom. Regardless of what I'd told Maya, I wasn't convinced he'd ever made his mind up about which way to plead for his client. I was yet to decide if that was a good or bad thing, but regardless it showed how passionate he was about everything in his life.

I went back to watching the man in question, his goofy smile firmly in place as he said something to the others that I couldn't make out. Some dumb joke, most likely. Having had this conversation with Maya, I couldn't help but wonder if there was hope for our childhood friendship yet.


	2. Maya

There weren't words to describe how elated I was to be back with Nick, Pearly and the others. And food! I hadn't eaten in over forty-eight hours! I was starving. But there was still something that was bothering me. Even focused as I was on eating two days' worth of food, I couldn't help but notice that things still seemed slightly…tense between Nick and Edgeworth. In fact, tense was an understatement. They'd barely said two words to each other all evening. Edgeworth was sitting on a stool, leaning against the bar, his untouched drink sitting forgotten behind him. I saw how Nick occasionally glanced over at him, hurt still visible in his eyes. It made me wonder… I knew that neither of them was that keen to share their feelings, but it hadn't really occurred to me that they wouldn't have sorted things out between themselves properly yet.

The leg of chicken I was eating in hand, I made my way over to the solitary man, leaning against the bar next to him.

"Have you even spoken to him yet?" His head snapped round to face me, as if my presence surprised him. I fixed him with my best glare. It was what interrogators always did in the cop shows. "Well? Have you?" He looked away from me and back towards the group we'd both abandoned. My gaze followed his.

"I assume that by 'him', you in fact mean Wright?" I gave him my best 'duh!' look, the one that was usually reserved for Nick when he failed to know something obvious, like the name of episode 14 of the _Steel Samurai_. "I thought so. Of course I've spoken to him." I felt relief flood me. Maybe I'd been wrong about the whole thing. But my heart sank as he carried on. "How could I not have? After all, we've just spent the last few days in court." I frowned. He knew what I meant, and there he was looking all…smug, and uncaring!

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" I almost yelled. His expression looked slightly shocked at my outburst, so I decided on a softer approach. "Have you apologised to him yet?" He frowned in confusion.

"Apologise? Why on Earth would I need to apologise to Wright? I've explained everything to him; surely that will suffice". My hands balled into fists. Surely he couldn't be so dense as to really think that…right?

"You hurt him! When you left… You hurt him." Instead of surprise or yet more smugness, the two reactions that I was expecting, he responded so quietly I almost didn't hear:

"So did you." My face fell. That couldn't be true, could it? I'd certainly never intentionally hurt Nick. "Anyway, I presume that by 'hurt', you are referring to this foolish idea he had that my… departure was due to the loss of my perfect win record. Before today I had already tried to clear the matter up with him on many occasions, but he was too pig-headed to accept what I told him. Fortunately he's listened to me now." I shook my head in denial. He really didn't get it, did he?

"That's not what I meant. I don't think you understand the effects your actions had." The confused expression returned to his face.

"What on Earth are you talk-"

"You were dead!" I interrupted, only realising that it sounded quite ridiculous after I'd spoken. I desperately searched for something to say that made more sense. "I… He… That note you left. Did it occur to you that it could easily be interpreted to mean…_that_" He looked away, and that in itself answered me. Yes, he'd known what Nick would think, yet he'd still done it and even now refused to see the consequences Nick had had to face. I tried again to explain "I only found out about your 'death' very recently. When I saw Nick again, he refused to tell me what had happened to you. He made me promise to never bring you up again. Mr. Edgeworth, he couldn't even bear to hear your name!" I was sure that, if nothing else, my last statement would make him realised how serious it was.

"I…" He stopped, and I almost allowed myself to smile at what I thought was my victory. It was short-lived as Edgeworth suddenly became more confident. "That could just be due to his complete and utter hatred of me." I was stunned. How could he think that? How could he think that Nick ever hated him?

"You didn't see him, Edgeworth. You just…" I sighed. "You didn't see him."

"Neither did you." I was confused. What was he talking about? Of course I'd seen him, I'd been right there with him for the last few months. "When you left." He clarified. "As I said before, you hurt him. Of course, he never mentioned anything to me, but I could tell." I shook my head. I didn't – _couldn't_ believe it.

"No. Nick knows why I left. H-He understands. I know he does. But it was different when you left". I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. To make Edgeworth understand, I knew I'd need a decent argument. It was almost like being in court with Nick. "He wasn't suffering in silence. If I mentioned you, he'd shout at me. Mr. Edgeworth, Nick never shouts at me. Then he'd apologise and refuse to say anything more about it. But he'd have this look in his eyes… He looked so sad… yet so angry at the same time." That look haunted me. It almost made me cry even to think about it. But hopefully, with Edgeworth back I would never have to see it again. "So yes, maybe he did hate you. But that wasn't why he couldn't stand to talk about you. Trust me." We sat in silence for a little. Edgeworth's eyes were firmly fixed on the rest of the group again while I chanced occasional glances at him, trying to guess what he was thinking, and from that what I should say next.

"He cares about you, more than you know", we both said at the same time. The child inside of me wanted to laugh out loud at that. Instead, I allowed myself a small smile.

"When you were with de Killer… You should have seen him. He was at the end of his tether. I've never seen him so desperate, practically begging the judge to continue the trial on the first day. It was quite pitiful really." A similar smile fell across Edgeworth's face, though it seemed almost like he was laughing at Nick. He quickly turned more serious "He would have got that man acquitted for you, I'm sure of it. Even if it meant the guilty went free, and even if it meant you never forgave him, he would have done it to keep you safe if there wasn't any other way. That goes against everything that he believes in and stands for, both personally and professionally. In my eyes, that means a lot. You should keep it in mind."

I couldn't help but smile, and I was sure I was blushing. I knew that what he'd just said wasn't something to be proud of. If anything, the fact that Nick cared about me so much he'd be willing to send an innocent person to their death was a reason to leave and never come back. But all the same, I couldn't help but be flattered and awed by the fact. My attention turned back to the subject of my thoughts. He had that smile on his face that I loved so much, the one that he always had whenever he made me laugh. I couldn't help but wonder at what Edgeworth had told me. Did Nick care that much? If so, maybe Pearl wasn't so wrong when she talked about us being each other's special someone.


End file.
